By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.

My colleague Dan Gilgoff's latest filing is headlined, "Gays Step Up Efforts to Reverse Gay-as-Godless Stereotype."

I guess growing up in "godless" New York City, I, too, labored under the delusion that most gays and lesbians did not believe in god or go to church, as neither did anyone else I grew up with. I had two experiences, however, within the last 10 years ago or so, that made me realize some gays are extremely religious.

By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.

I share herewith some interesting observations offered by my colleague Ken Walsh. Even though recent public opinion polls show the president's popularity at 60 percent or above, America's confidence in his ability to meet the challenges of his time is thinning.

By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.

I don't know about you, but I can't take any more media coverage of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's increasingly chaotic and sorry life. This man is coming apart faster than a clunker car in a junkyard, and it's not pretty to watch.

By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.

Among all the responses this week to the controversial Ricci v. DeStefano Supreme Court ruling, I have yet to see a commentator mention what impact the Obama presidency may have had on the justices' ruling. Supreme Court justices, like other people, do not operate in a vacuum. Was the ruling wrong?

In my humble opinion, yes, but also somewhat inevitable now that America has elected a president of color.

By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.

Todd Purdum's excoriation of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin comes as close to making me feel as sorry for her as any gently disguised screed possibly could. When Sen. McCain first chose her as his running mate, I thought it was a stroke of genius. Then she opened her mouth, completing the transition from strong, successful woman to evangelical extremist. The nadir was Palin's Katie Couric interview, in which she waxed poetic about the history of our great country, while dodging the question, "Besides Roe v. Wade, are there any other Supreme Court decisions you disagree with?"

By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has predictably drawn the ire of Muslims worldwide by backing demands to ban the wearing of the burkha in France. But let's remember a couple of things about the burkha. First, it is the complete body-covering garment which reveals only a slit for the eyes—it is not a mere headscarf. The burkha can be worn and indeed has been worn by male and female suicide bombers to hide deadly weaponry. It creates a terror issue not created by the wearing of a headscarf.

That is not Sarkozy's main justification for backing the ban. He based his position on the burkha's degradation of women:

By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Interesting that supposedly liberal Salon.com sports an article about horse slaughter that reads, in part, like a cheat sheet from the slaughter industry. I have written about the despicable horse slaughter industry from a decidedly antithetical perspective. I would have thought a progressive mouthpiece such as Salon.com would share my views on this issue. Instead, the piece on horse slaughter, although written by a self-professed horse and donkey owner, seems to favor the slaughter industry: